Your Views: Unfair take by '48 Hours'

One year ago, the State of Kansas dismissed all charges against Chad and Shannon Floyd after two laborious trials in a case originally filed by former Attorney General Phill Kline. The prosecutors correctly realized that no jury would convict this innocent couple, and that a third trial would gain nothing and do more harm than good in this small farming community.

The Floyds and many residents of Stanton County had hoped that the dismissal would put an end to the malicious gossip and veil of suspicion that had divided and exhausted their community ever since Michael Golub disappeared. But just when the healing had begun, CBS producers from "48 Hours" came along and re-opened the wound for no greater purpose than the network's own commercial interests.

Chad and Shannon cooperated with law enforcement and answered their questions during the investigation. Chad and Shannon presented their case twice in court, so they had no reason to rehash the ordeal again for the gratification of some ratings-driven reality TV show. Chad and Shannon wished only to put this case behind them and focus on their children, and they asked that CBS leave them, their children and their community alone.

Trial by TV is an insult to the innocent and a sad day for justice. CBS's "48 Hours" program is pure television entertainment — the more sensationalized, the better. The program's take on the Floyd trial was like its treatment of most cases — inflammatory and grossly incomplete. In its commercial-filled hour, "48 Hours" could never fairly portray a case that took nearly a month to try in court. But, here, even the private eyes hired by "48 Hours" couldn't agree on what happened. That's a far cry from proof beyond a reasonable doubt and exactly how innocent people get wrongfully convicted.

DAN MONNAT and KURT KERNS,

Wichita

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